The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-07-08
THE TEMPERANcE JUBILEE.
Scion Chase's Account OF an Old
Fashioned Time.
[solon chase in lewiston Journal.l

[Solon Chase in Lewiston Journal
The Oxford Bears and their wives and
their cubs had big time at Burganot Pond
on the Fourth. The Oxford Bear when he
emgrates takes on city airs as natural as a
COW takes a cabbage, but the Oxford Bear on
his native heath is the same old bear from
generation to generation. The old residents
of Turner and Livermore don't forget they
were bred and born Oxford Bears.
When the new county of Androscoggin
was formed we were taken from old Oxford,
yet we feel we are Oxford Bears to the
manor born. The Bears howled and growled
and made the woods and the welkin ring on
the shores of Burgamot Pond last Monday.
The weather was the regulation Fourth of
July morning. All nature was dressed in
her gayest costume. The gentle breeze that
Bonded the limbs of the trees and ruff1ed the
feathers in the ladies' hats, was fragrant
with the odor of new mown hay. Three
months ago winter reigned supreme in this
sylvan retreat. This beautiful spot of ma
ture was sheet of ice, the bare trees faced
the northeast gale and the Oxford Bears
were in their dens.
Now these self-same Bears are sWeltering
in the shade, eating ice cream and drinking
lemonade to cool their feyerish brows. The
trains from Portland and Lewiston were
loaded heavily and the people came with
teams distance of fifteen or twenty miles.
III is big throng, and, as hot as 1t is, all
seemed to enjoy religion. The wonder is
where so many people came from.
1t looks good to see ex-Gov. Perham pre-
siding at Fourth of July temperance cele-
bration. He was one of the pioneers who
reused the people to the evils of the rum
traffic; When he was sheep farmer and
school teacher in the town of Woodstock, he
felt call to preach against the sin Of rum
selling and made school house campaign in
Oxford county.
His earnestness and zeal in the good cause
made him strong team, and he was to the
temperance cause in the early days not un-
like them steers to the greenbaek cause
There was time when Millerism struck the
town of Woodstock Most all the people had
it. They showed their faith by their works
As the day set for Gabriel to blow his horn
was near at hand, it was decided by the
faithful that it was no use to harvest the
crops. While most all of Woodstock was at
their prayers and creeping in the dirt like
little children, Sidney Perham organized
potato digging brigade and dug other folks
potatoes, He took pay for digging from the
crop, and put the rest in the owners cellars
Sidney Perham has climbed the peoples lad
der from the pedagogue's seat to the Gov
ernor's chair, and in every place he has done
about the right thing, as he did when he dug
Ne
His many friends are rejoiced to see him
looking in better health.
John Swasey's welcome speech was a fine
effort. John is always ready to stand up and
talk, even when he don't have much to say.
but this time he had something to say.
Gov. Bodwell seemed to enjoy religion in a
temperance meeting, but he Is not natural
born speech-maker. OF late he has shown
by This works that the rumseler of the
original package" creed has hard road to
travel. The Governor has been criticised
by the newspapers and the doctors, because
he vetoed the doctors bill, but guess he
thinks II the people know who they want for
Governor they know who they want for
doctor
George Bisbee, who presided in the fore
noon, is one of the young Bears, who sticks
to the hills of old Oxford, only when he is
called away to take office, which is thing
an Oxford Bear seldom refuses to take.
The old veteran, j. j. Perry was on the
ground-one of the Bears, but now resides
In Portland. The burden of years rests
lightly on him. He has lost none of his
wit oil. devotion to the cause of prohibition.
He referred to the work of the past, and
gave to Arson P. Morrill, the full need of
praise and did not forget Seth Sampson, who
spent twenty years Of his life hunting rum
sellers.
Ex-Gov. Dingley made painstaking argu-
ment on organized effort" Nelson Dingley
is at home in a temperance meeting, and is
State.
Neal Dow grows younger as he grows old
err lie was mayor of Portland when what
was stigmatiZed by the rum party of Maine
as the Robbins murder" took place.
Neal Dow should not be criticised too
sharply, nor muzzled. He said we had made
great progress in temperance work in the
last fifty years, but none in the last fifteen
years, and he knew the reason why, but he
did not tell the reason. The reason he had
In his mind was that the Republican party
is now the ram party.
Ii the Republican party is not the rum
party, it won't hurt it any for Neal Dow TO
say it is. Lies don't hurt--it is the truth
that cuts and kills. If the Republican party
is the rum party, it should not offend any
honest temperance Republican to hear Neal
Dow say so. 1t is not enough to say that the
Republican party is better temperance par
ty than the Democratic party.
The time has come for the Republican par
ty to step forward and stand before the peo-
pie as good temperance party as the Dem
Ocratlc party is a rum party
There was no firing OF guns nor the usual
hurrah Of Fourth Of July celebration, but
the meeting was temperance jubilee.
The speaking and the musical entertain
ment were listened to attentively by the
large crowd, and good order prevailed
throughout
The managers of the r. +. a. B. railroad
deserve the thanks of the people of the State
Tor getting up so large temperance meet
ing on the line OF the road, and / guess they
did not lose anything by it.